


Transcendence

by chibideath



Category: Lucifer (Comic)
Genre: Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 12:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2811239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibideath/pseuds/chibideath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elaine is tying up some loose ends after taking over the Universe. And one of those ends is an angel. A really angry one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Transcendence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/gifts).



 

 

 

> _Sarah: “The type of energy possessed by a body that’s raised above its original height is –“_
> 
> _Barry: “Kinetic energy.”_
> 
> _Elaine: “Potential energy”_
> 
> _Barry: “Oh, yeah. Potential energy”_
> 
>                           - Lucifer: The Divine Comedy

 

 

Elaine Belloc stood looking at a bramble in space.

Well, okay, technically she wasn’t “standing,” since there wasn’t anything to stand _on,_ and since standing, in any case, would probably require some sort of gravity, not to mention a body to be standing with. Plus, “bramble” seemed to imply a literal tangle of thorny bushes and vines, which would have to grow from somewhere, and actually be formed out of matter of some kind…

Elaine put her (figurative) hand to her (figurative) forehead. Words. She was thinking in words again. She didn’t have to, and in fact she couldn’t anymore, increasingly, because language didn’t even begin to cover everything that she was now. _Thinking_ didn’t cover everything she was now. It barely covered everything she was before. She had to break the habit; but human habits died hard, even with the universe’s biggest conceivable shot of divinity installed.

Whatever. That was an ongoing chore/battle/royal pain in the metaphorical ass. For all intents and purposes, there was a place in space whose makeup of concepts and emotions and matter equated – figuratively or metaphorically – to large, dense, unfriendly-looking, spherical bramble in space. And Elaine was looking at it, deciding how best to approach. And she had to do it carefully. There was an angel inside.

Elaine parted the brambles, slowly making her way inside. She didn’t have to. She could have simply caused it to cease existing, or changed it into something else, or altered time from the beginning such that this situation would never, have never, and will never happen – but those were the easy ways out. Or rather, the quick ways out. There was no such thing as easy, or simple, or consequence-free with shortcuts. Not even for God Almighty.

Besides, she didn’t want to wave her (metaphorical) hand and make this all go away. She wanted the angel inside to make its own choice – not something angels were generally designed to do, making it even harder, but still. If it was the choice she hoped for, that would be great, but if not, she wouldn’t undercut it.

Finally Elaine found her way to the center of the thick bramble. At its core was a small, circular space, with a soft golden glow, and curled in the center of that space, in a pose of inconceivable despair and tightly bound rage, was the angel.

“Gabriel?” she asked.

Gabriel – for Gabriel it was, archangel of the host, though in pretty poor shape –looked up, immediately. Though it did not turn its head – merely looked straight ahead, as if blind. Its eyes were haggard. Its voice, when it spoke, even more so.

“F-Father?” it whispered.

“Not exactly,” Elaine said. “Sort of. But…it’s complicated.”

Now the angel did look around, focusing on Elaine. It squinted, and then…

Then the knot of rage came violently, explosively undone.

Gabriel’s eyes glowed red. The vines around him - it was definitely somehow a _him_ now - burned fiercely, and fire attempted to engulf the form that Elaine wore. A sword appeared in his hand.

“ _You_ ,” he said. “YOU. Elaine Belloc, daughter of Eve, progeny of Michael, and for that, the most depraved, corrupt, _traitoress_ in all of Creation. I believed no one could rival Lilith for wanton wickedness, but you – you have beguiled the Host, the Lillim, the Damned, every creature between heaven and earth, even the Morningstar into believing that you are worthy to sit in Yahweh's place. Act in His name. Well, for His sake, and by His name, I swear, I will _vanquish_ you.”

Screaming, he charged at her, ran her right through a sword that now bore flames of its own. She vanished. The fire in the vines rose, and then abruptly died. Gabriel stood in the void, looking around.

“Feel better?” she asked, from everywhere.

Gabriel started in confusion, which turned into renewed anger as she rematerialized in front of him.

“You may run all you like, you faithless bitch!!” He was screaming now, eyes wild. “I will sacrifice myself to revenge us all on you, I will stand alone by the Primum Mobile until your divine blood paves the way for Yahweh’s return!! I will-“

“I’m sure you will,” Elaine interrupted. “That’s your biggest fantasy, isn’t it? Being the last pillar of strength, the purest voice ready to preach to the new congregation. To lead the vanguard, or even better to martyr yourself for the cause – remaining a pure symbol for all time. But it’s all lies, Gabriel. I hate to sound like Lucifer, but we both know you don’t have the bite to match your bark.”

Gabriel’s eyes blazed. “I will OBLITERATE you! I will cleanse Creation of your stain!! I will-“

“Enough,” Elaine said. “This is ridiculous. You may be spiteful, hateful, even delusional, but you’re not blind. You know my name is written on every particle of this creation. You know, or you wouldn’t have mistaken me for Him when I walked in. I don’t act in Yahweh’s name. I act in my own. And ultimately, so do you. So spare me the rhetorical vomit. You can’t wage a fight against me, let alone win.”

“I do not have to _win_ , Elaine Belloc,” the angel growled. “I merely have to die trying. Then at least my own conscience, if nothing else, will be saved.”

“Which is just as much of a lie as the rest of it,” Elaine replied, impatiently. “You _had_ a chance for glory, Gabriel. The Silver City was assaulted by the Titans. Heaven was overrun by the Lillim. The Primum Mobile broke. The Host fought, and where were you? Where were you, your speeches, and your principles then?

“Answer – nowhere. Hiding in a corner of space while it unraveled around you, waiting like for another moment in time where you could lead while not being in any actual danger. Your conscience isn’t tortured by me, Gabriel. It’s your own cowardice that eats you from the inside.”

The fire in the angel's eyes blazed once more, and then abruptly went out. All life seemed to drop from him, and he sagged, once more the pathetic, haggard creature she had first come upon.

“What do you want then, Elaine Belloc? Are you here to tell me all is well? That Yahweh has returned once more, that Lucifer is dead, and all the Damned and demon-kind have returned to Hell?”

“No.”

“Then go away.” He turned and walked away from her. She rematerialized in front of him.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Elaine said. “Or, won’t. Not until we’ve talked.”

“Talk?” And he laughed. Laughed the hacking, hysterical laugh of a man who had no sanity left. All the more disturbing since angels had no sense of humor.

“What could you possibly want to talk about? With all of time and space, cause and effect, dream and reality at your disposal, what could you possibly want from me, other than to kill me? Do you intend to preach to me yourself, before I die?”

“No,” Elaine said again. “I’m not here to kill you, or punish you. I already have one angel in a pressure cooker for causing trouble in this universe, and he had far more cause for his rage than you do. You’ve taken no action, Gabriel, but you are…a problem. A problem I’d like to solve, and I’d like to try doing something new.”

“Indeed?” he scoffed. “Do tell me of this ‘new’ thing. Then go. If you are not going to kill me, then at least permit me separation from your company.”

Elaine’s annoyance bubbled, but she gathered herself. This was the important part.

“Angels don’t change.” Elaine explained. You are what you were made to be. You are _only_ what you were made to be, and you couldn’t change that even if you wanted to. What actions you take are your own, but they fall strictly within given parameters, even among the greatest of you. My father Michael, even in his crisis of faith, didn’t stop being who he was. Even in his anger towards Yahweh, he still worked to save what He built. He loved God all the same.”

“Even Lucifer, I think, is ultimately the same being he was on the day Yahweh created him, just with more knowledge. His will, stubbornness, rebelliousness, the desire to constantly get away from the ordered structure of things – ironically, that’s engrained in him. He can’t avoid it. Those traits are his triumphs. His tragedy is that he knows it. I think that’s why he’s left all of us now. Though to be honest, I don’t know if I will ever truly know all there is to know about him, even now.”

“Is there a point to this fascinating treatise?” Gabriel spat.

 

“Yes,” she said. “You have no more room to be who you are, Gabriel. There isn’t space in creation for your function anymore, which - ultimately - was to reflect Lucifer and Michael back to themselves. And without that function, well…you can’t do anything but die. And I think you know it, deep down. There is a time when beings, all beings, either need to change or die, and angels can’t change.”

Gabriel glared at her. “Why tell me this? That is no more than I want, if I cannot revenge myself on you. If my fate is doomed, why come here, Yahweh’s granddaughter? Do you wish to taunt me?” 

“No,” Elaine said. “I want to give you a gift, if you’ll accept it.”

“ _Oh_ ? And that is?”

“Potential.”

 

There was a pause as they regarded each other, and Elaine went on.

“The primary thing that sets you, angels, apart from say, humanity or any number of other of Yahweh’s creations is that you have no potential. No ability to rise above your original state. No room to grow. I think it’s time for that to change. No angel should have to die just because it can’t adapt. What I am offering you is that ability.” 

Another silence.

“Why would you do this?” Gabriel asked. “Why come to me now and offer this?”

 

Elaine thought about this. He was right of course. Why do it? Why come the hard way around? Without a thought, she could easily have made Gabriel sing her praises; rearranged the whole of time so that he were devoted to her from his making; remake him so that he would be different, or not exist at all.

“Because this is my way,” she said. “Creation is my responsibility now, and I’ve decided that this time around, there will be no grand design. Everyone and every thing will have the ability to choose. Yahweh gave free will to humanity and some other races, but saw the whole story from beginning to send. From now on, there will be no story. Or at least, not one that I have written for anyone. I can’t see that it has done very much good in the past, and, well, we’ll never get anywhere new if we don’t try creative solutions.”

“Besides, we’re family,” Elaine said. “Of a sort. Like it or not, we are. That won't change, throughout the whole of time and space, until we cease to exist. Which, for us, is going to take a - really – long - time. I don’t know about you, but I don’t care to spend the next however many eons experiencing regret about this. It’s time to make a new start.”

Gabriel considered. “If my father made me this way, then it would be churlish to change.”

Elaine groaned inwardly. Angels were either masochists or sadists, depending on where their anger was directed. She thanked whatever force was responsible for seeing to it that she that she had grown up human.

“Yahweh has gone, Gabriel. And if I understand his departure rightly, it’s because he wanted to introduce some randomness into the grand equation. This could very much be within the realm of his wishes - honoring them. But either way, he’s gone. It’s time for us to make our own choices. If your choice is to stay as you are, alone and miserable in the middle of space with no hope and no future, then you can. But at least this way, you get a chance to do something else.”

Gabriel’s face was expressionless. This time, Elaine let the knowledge of his feelings and emotions come to her. And what she felt was…emptiness. It was colored through with shades of confusion, but there was also something that almost, almost, with a little nudge, could be curiosity. It's wasn't the emptiness of despair, but an emptiness where something else could go. Something new.

"Very well, Elaine Belloc. I accept your offer.”

Elaine’s smile and elation brought new stars into existence around them. This was why she had gone the long way around. Why she hadn’t magicked him into this state. Because it couldn’t have been otherwise. Her apotheosis had taught her that no heavy-handed weaving could replace the slow, delicate process of coaxing the earth to make space for the seed to grow, to sprout, and in time, bloom. Metaphors again, she knew, but it was the best way to think about it.

So she planted the seed where he had made the space, and left him to do what he would.

“I’m glad you accepted Gabriel. You won’t see me again, not in this form, but I will be here. I will be everywhere.”

“Goodbye, Elaine Belloc,” he said, face stony, but no longer hostile. “I do not wish you to fare well, but goodbye.”

“That’s good enough,” she said, and left that place. She had a girls’ night to get to.

**Author's Note:**

> I had much bigger plans for this story, including weaving in character vignettes at intervals within Elaine and Gabriel's conversations - vignettes focusing on family ties and the aftermath of several events - but...I misread the due date time for my timezone (argh) so had to stick with what I had. Still, I hope you enjoy it, and in the future perhaps I can add more.


End file.
